Fulton recalled for Bangladesh series

Lou Vincent has been dropped by New Zealand after his problems in Australia and South Africa while the batsman Peter Fulton returns to the squad for the one-day series against Bangladesh starting on Boxing Day. Gareth Hopkins, the wicketkeeper-batsman, also misses out on the 12-man outfit for the three-match contest.

"Peter has shown good form in the State Championship, and he has proved in the past he can translate a high standard of performance at domestic level to the international game," the coach John Bracewell said. "The selection panel felt it was important to retain the bulk of the team from the recent series in South Africa and Australia to give them the opportunity to build on the experience of those tours and show the talent they have."

Fulton, 28, played the last of his 36 ODIs against Sri Lanka during the World Cup in May. He missed New Zealand's recent tour of South Africa after suffering a knee injury.

"Sometimes when you miss out through injury you give someone else an opportunity, and if they take it then it can take a long time to get back in," Fulton told the Dominion Post. "Obviously it's been a tough tour, South Africa and Australia away are probably the hardest teams in world cricket at the moment to play against, but I'm just relieved that, in a way, no-one took the opportunity to stamp their mark on the side."

Vincent and Hopkins will return to the State Shield competition while their international team-mates face Bangladesh. The first game is at Eden Park followed by matches at Napier on December 28 and Queenstown on December 31.